Window structure



g- 31 19 3- E. c. SWMQSON 2,328,509

WINDOW STRUCTURE Filed June 20, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l 1943- E. c. SWANSON 2,328,509

WINDOW STRUCTURE Filed June 20, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 NIH 3 Mini/7755!.

Patented Aug. 31, 1943 WINDOW STRUCTURE Earl C. Swanson, Bayport, Minn., assignor to Andersen Corporation, tion of Minnesota Bayport, Minn, a corpora- Application June 20, 1941, Serial No. 398,927

1 Claim. (01. 160-90) This invention relates to improvements in window structures, and is concerned particularly with a means for insulating windows which shall be practical for use with summer air conditioning, as Well as during the heating season.

Conventional storm sash are quite generally used in the colder parts of the country during the wintertime, but such storm sash have many disadvantages. In particular, they make ventilation difficult because it is necessary to raise the lower sash, then to open the storm sash and secure it in opened position. Even to ventilate by lowering the upper sash it is necessary first to raise the lower sash and then open the storm sash. Furthermore, such conventional storm sash detract from the appearance of the window.

It has also been suggested to provide insulation of windows by double glazing the sashes, but this method adds considerable extra weight which it is necessary to compensate for by increasing the weight of the counterbalancing equipment. Moreover, such double glazed constructions as usually suggested make it difiicult to apply the ordinary lock or latch to the check rails of the sashes because the auxiliary pane for the upper sash will occuply nearly all of the space on the check rail for that sash where such lock or latch is usually mounted. But the greatest difiiculty with such double glazed construction is that it is very expensive to secure a substantially air tight connection between the sash and the auxiliary pane.

My invention aims to provide window insulation which shall be satisfactory for year around use, with provision for screening if desired, and in which ventilation is controlled by the usual simple procedure of raising or lowering the sashes.

My invention provides a window structure having the usual slidable sashes, in which there is a storm sash fixed in the window frame opposite one of said slidable sashes, and in which the other sash is provided with an auxiliary pane attached thereto so that it will move therewith.

In a window construction of the type described I also include means for sealing the space between the fixed storm sash and its corresponding slidable sash.

My invention further provides for the mounting of a screen in the lower half of the window opening, provision being made for fitting the top rail of the screen into the lower rail of the storm sash.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated a practical embodiment of my invention from which it will be seen that my window construction is practical to produce in a stock millwork factory. Of course, the drawings are illustrative merely, and it is not intended to limit my invention to the details therein shown as modifications thereof will readily occur to those skilled in the art, once the nature of my invention is understood.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a frontelevation of a window embodying my invention as seen from the outside of the house;

Fig. 2 is an elevation of the same window as seen from the inside;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary cross-section on an enlarged scale taken substantially on line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary cross-section on an enlarged scale taken substantially on line lll of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is a view in vertical section on an enlarged scale taken substantially on line 5-5.

The window construction illustrated comprises the usual frame consisting of the head jamb H3 having the head blind stop I l side jambs 2 with blind stops I3, and the customary parting stop M. The frame also includes the usual sill [5.

An upper sash I6 is slidably mounted in the channels formed by the blind stops I3 and the parting stops [4. A lower sash I7 is slidably mounted in the channel formed by the parting stops l4 and suitable inside stops [8.

Upon the outside, the window opening is framed by any suitable outside casing members it and upon the inside, by suitable trim pieces 26.

As will be seen, particularly in Figs. 3 and 5, I have mounted a storm sash 2| in the outside of the frame opposite the upper sash Hi. This storm sash 2| may be of any desired construction and may be mounted wholly between the blind stops or partly between the blind stops and the frame as shown in the drawings. It will also be seen that the said storm sash 2| is of substantially the same height as the upper sash [6.

Between the bottom rail 22 of the said storm sash and the check rail 23 of the upper sash I provide a Weatherstrip 24 for the purpose of sealing the space between the sashes.

Thus, it will be seen that I have provided for the upper sash of my window a separate storm sash mounted in the window frame, together with means for sealing the space between the sashes so as to provide insulation by means of a dead air space between them.

The lower sash ll may also be of standard construction except that in this instance it is shown as being provided with a surrounding rabbet 25 in its inner face. Withinthis rabbet is seated an auxiliary pane 25 which may be frictionally held in the rabbet 25 by suitable spring tension weatherstrips 21. This mounting of the auxiliary pane in the lower sash may take any of the various forms shown in my earlier Patent No. 2,003,982, granted June 4, 1935. This construction, it will be seen, provides a double glazed lower sash with a dead air space between the glass panes so as to provide for insulation. Because of the additional weight resulting from the addition of the auxiliary pane to the lower sash, the counterweights 23 are shown (Figs. 3 and 4) to be somewhat larger than the counter Weights 29 for the upper sash.

Between the check rail 23 of the upper sash and the check rail 30 of the lower sash I provide Weatherstripping 3| which may be of the construction described in my copending application Serial No. 236,475, filed October 22, 1933.

Additional Weatherstripping is provided for the sides of the sashes as at 32, for the top of the upper sash as at 33, and for the bottom of the lower sash as at 34, all of which may also be in accordance with my said application Serial No. 236,475.

Returning now to the storm sash 2|, it will be seen that the lower rail 22 thereof is provided with a groove or channel in which is seated the i top rail 35 of a screen 36 which rests upon the sill l5 and may be locked in place in any customary manner.

It will now be apparent that I have provided a window construction in which adequate insula- :1.

tion is provided by means of dead air spaces created between the individual sashes and their cooperating auxiliary panes. This I have. accomplished without increasing the weight of the upper sash. At the same time, as will be apparent, ventilation is attained in the usual manner. For example, it is only necessary to raise the lower sash and it will not be required to open or adjust any storm sash. If it is desired to ventilate at the top it is necessary only to lower the upper sash. Thereupon contact of the Weatherstrip 24 is broken and air enters through the space between the upper sash and the storm sash.

Lowering the upper sash in the manner described provides a splendid method of indirect ventilation. The storm sash remains in place to prevent the direct entry of snow or rain into the room while at the same time air moves upwardly the space between the said storm sash and the upper sash. It will be readily seen that this procedure is very much simpler than is possible with the usual type of storm sash in which it is required first to raise the lower sash, then to open the storm sash and fix it in position,

. then to close the lower sash and open the upper sash. Nor can such indirect ventilation be accomplished by such structures which include a double glazed upper sash because in that type of construction there would be no protection against the entry of snow or rain directly into the room. This, then, is one of the great advantages of my invention.

The construction which I have described is practical for use the year around and this eliminates the problem of storage of storm sashes as well as the labor and expense of putting them up and taking them down and removing and replacing screens. In my construction the screen can remain in place during the winter because it will not interfere in any way with the ventilation so that there is even no problem of storing screens.

My construction is so simple that its parts may be practically produced in any stock millwork factory, as will be readily appreciated by those familiar with this art.

I claim as my invention:

A window structure comprising a frame, upper and lower sashes slidable in said frame, said frame having head and side jambs provided with blind stops, a storm sash secured between said blind stops in the upper half of the frame and being or" substantially the same dimension as the upper slidable sash, means sealing the space between said storm sash and said upper slidable sash, a screen mounted between said blind stops in the lower half of said frame and extending in the same plane as said storm sash, means connecting the top rail of said screen to the bottom rail of said storm sash, and an auxiliary pane secured to the inner face of the lower sash.

EARL C. S'WANSON. 

